From the Preface to Adam's book:
A few years ago I presented on television a short piece about Thomas Crapper. I enjoyed making it, but what amazed me was how much interest it generated; people are fascinated by lavatories. A friend, half jokingly, said I should write a book about them, and I began to do some research. Again I was amazed, both by the sheer amount of fascinating material out there, and by people's enthusiasm. I have asked dozens of people for information and help; one or two ignored my requests, but the vast majority were much amused and keen to assist. Such grand organisations as the Regent's Park Zoo and the Ministry of Defence had tales to tell.
I have done my best to make sure that everything in the book is true. There are a few jokes and absurdities, but everything else is factual, I think, and I have checked what I could. Please let me know if I have made any mistakes.
If you have any wonderful stories to tell, again let me know---there might be a second edition! Several of the stories have come from the Net, which is one of the reasons I am making some of the book available on the Net.
Not all the entries in the book are on-line, but to find those that are, look them up in the alphabetical index at the top and foot of this and every other page, or pick a letter at random and start browsing. Cross-references in the text refer to things directly related to what you have just been reading, and are shown as links (or in bold if that part of the book is not yet on-line), or indicated by see; eg see trains.
Buy the book (Micheal O'Mara Books, ISBN 1-85479-250-4 (Amazon.co.uk), hardback 1-85479-245-8 (Amazon.co.uk), or in the US, ISBN 1570760810 from Amazon.com) and you can, of course, best appreciate it while sitting on your loo---the entries vary in length, and are designed to be easily readable whilst enthroned... I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Bristol, UK, January 1997
Adam Hart-Davis
Text extracts from "Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper" copyright (c) Adam Hart-Davis 1997.
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